


The Essay (Epilogue)

by cmk418



Series: The Essay [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-31
Updated: 2009-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28641819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cmk418/pseuds/cmk418
Summary: After graduation, Xander stops at Giles' house before his road trip
Relationships: Rupert Giles/Xander Harris
Series: The Essay [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2098959
Kudos: 1





	The Essay (Epilogue)

The explosives were set. The library’s private collection had been boxed up and moved to his flat. The weapons were stashed at the ready for use by Buffy and the rest of the graduating class. Xander had done remarkably well at organizing the students into an army, while Wesley and Willow researched and Buffy trained with Giles.

Everything was in order. Giles took a look around at the room where he’d spent most of his time during the last three years and felt a twinge of sadness. He brushed it off. The job was a means to an end; that was all. Giles walked into his private office and began boxing up his personal effects. Seven wooden stakes, one letter opener that the seller assured him was pure silver, a cross which was a gift from his mother, the mug that held his morning tea, a paperweight which was actually a crystal that he used for various magicks, the Slayer handbook which was buried at the bottom of his desk, his Watcher’s diary, and the-

Where the hell was it? It was just a single sheet of looseleaf paper, but what was written on it brightened his day and kept him in focus during those moments of self-doubt. (And, he had to admit that ever since his firing from the Council, there was a lot of self-doubt.) He would never have been so careless as to throw it away.

It didn’t matter that he could quote it from memory and call to mind each ink smudge and misspelling from its place on the page. If they survived the Ascension, he wanted a tangible reminder of his time here.

He looked through the desk again. It wasn’t there. He looked through the trashcan full of pithy announcements and interoffice memorandums from Snyder. As he’d suspected, it wasn’t there either. He didn’t recall placing it in a book for safe-keeping, but perhaps in all the preparations, he had and the letter was sitting in one of the boxes littering the floor of his living room.

He sighed. Best to keep things in perspective. We have a battle to fight, an Apocalypse to avert. Now is not the time to be selfish and fret over small things.

Graduation Day came and went. There were casualties, but the end result was a success. The Mayor was destroyed. Giles went back to his flat, paced the floor and sorted through books for hours, waiting for the adrenaline to wear off. Tonight, at last, he could catch up on the sleep he’d been missing, but he found that it eluded him.

He put on a record, keeping the volume low so as not to disturb the neighbors, and made a pot of tea. Perhaps reading Quentin Travers’ treatise on the care of cleaning of weaponry would be the catalyst to sleep. Giles reached for the small volume, read a few paragraphs and felt his eyelids getting heavy. It was-

A knock sounded at the door, bringing him out of his daze. _Just bloody wonderful_ , he thought, groaning as he moved off the couch.

Xander was standing on the other side of the door. Giles stepped aside to let him in.

Xander heard the music on the stereo. “Guess you couldn’t sleep either.”

“Something like that.”

“I decided to go early. The open road awaits.”

Giles smiled at him. “Drive safely.”

“I’ve got two stakes in the car. And a crossbow. And one of my uncle Rory’s guns. Do you think that’ll be enough?”

“That should be sufficient.”

“Good.” Xander seemed hesitant. “Good,” he repeated. “You’ll tell the girls I said goodbye?”

“Of course. Unless you’d rather wait until tomorrow. You can stay here if you’d like.”

“Thanks, Giles. You have no idea how tempting that offer is.” Xander looked up at him and grinned. “Or maybe you do.”

Giles wasn’t prone to blushing, but he felt warmth suffuse his face at Xander’s words.

Xander continued. “I’m going to go now before I change my mind. Thanks, Giles. Really, thank you for everything.”

Xander wrapped Giles in a hug, then slapped him on the back a couple of times before pulling away. “See you when I get back.”

“Of course.”

Xander extended a hand toward him. Giles found it odd that Xander would want something as formal as a handshake after their embrace, but he’d learned from experience that the young man didn’t do things conventionally. He reached out and his hand was immediately clasped in both of Xander’s. Something was pressed into Giles’ hand.

“You know, you could have just made a copy and snuck the original back into my backpack when I wasn’t looking.”

“I-I,” Giles stammered.

“It’s kinda nice that you kept it. And didn’t correct the spelling and give it back to me.”

“I- don’t you want to discuss it?”

“Nah. High school’s over. I don’t need to know how to spell anymore.”

Giles scowled and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Ah, there’s the Giles I know and- well, we can figure it out when I get back, okay?”

Giles nodded mutely and walked with Xander to the door.

“Take care, Xander.”

“You too, Giles.”

Things had gotten formal between them again, and Giles thought that perhaps it was for the best. He watched Xander walk down the front walk, get into his car, and drive away.

It was going to be a long summer.  



End file.
